Scared to stay on....scared to go off!

[Jollygirl]

Hi there,
I've been lurking but decided to post since I now have a lot of questions.
I have also posted in the "my story" sticky/thread.
I am 38 years old and been on 10mg of lipitor for 4 years now.
I'm unsure if my health issues in the past 2 years are attributed to taking lipitor or if they are truly hormonal as my doctor says they are.

Besides this, I truly do not like what I have been reading about taking statins and am feeling unsure whether to stop taking them or not.
I've read some of the health articles and countless testimonials and am scared to keep taking the lipitor. I also read that there is a risk to stop taking them (something about sticky blood platelets) and withdrawal side effects if stopping after taking it for so long. Maybe I really do need the lipitor because of my strong family history of heart disease.
I've already discussed this with my doctor and she encourages me to stay on the lipitor and feels it is working well for me but it is still my decision to go off if I want.
If it is the lipitor effecting my health or even effecting my hormones, I much rather take natural supplements to lower my high cholesterol. I've read about Vitamin C and CoQ10 and truly don't even know where to start.
How do I safely stop the lipitor?
Do I wean my self off by cutting dose over time?
Does anyone know for sure if it is safe to stop taking Lipitor abrubtly?
If I want to try natural supplements to lower cholesterol instead of the lipitor, what exactly do I take and what is a good starting dose?

[Allen1]

Hi there Jollygirl and welcome to the forum.

The article below by Dr Graveline, advises people to wean themselves off Statins to reduce any chance of any severe problems. Most of us just stopped cold turkey because we were unaware of the possible problems that are mentioned in the link and fortunately we are still here.

http://www.spacedoc.com/stopping_statins.html

There is a lot of information on this site about the problems that we have encountered because we were taking Statins, most of the problems we also had didn't make sense, just like the ones you mentioned in the "my story" sticky/thread. I believe that our symptoms would have gotten worse if we had not come off the Statins when we did, unfortunately for a lot of us, the problems we had, are still with us plus many others even after stopping the poison.

Thankfully though we are all different and many folk have improved since stopping the Statins, the choice though has to yours, I know what I would do but it is your choice to make based on what you have heard and read about it.

All the best,

Allen.

[Jollygirl]

Hi allen and thanks for the reply.
I've been reading non stop for almost 2 days. My poor kids are being neglected. Lol...
I definitely want to make informed choices when it comes to this decision.
Although my doctor still seems to encourage staying on Lipitor, she seems to be supportive in what I decide. She's fully aware of how uncomfortable I am. I will try to work with her and continue to monitor my blood cholesterol post stopping. The more I read from the internet, the more sure I will stop taking Lipitor. I've already cut my dose in half and will wean myself off.
I think I will read more on the supplements before I go that route. I've seen a lot of contradictions and read some side effects from those as well.
I've also left out from my original post a lot of other side effects that I have experienced over the last 2 years.
The vitamin C theory is making a whole lot of sense to me.
Thanks again for the reply.

[lars999]

Good Morning Jollygirl!

I am one that quit Lipitor totally, no tapering off, after 6-7 years of taking 10 mg daily. For me that was clearly a great decision. Lipitor had been dragging me down to where I was a small fraction of my former self, especially in physical stamina. I jokingly referred to myself as "99 going on dead". Shortly after quitting I found out that was not such an exaggeration. I made major recoveries on many fronts in only a matter of weeks -- I could walk more than 15 minutes again, I could drive a car for hours again (up from 1,0 hour max, on freeways!!) Then, over following weeks and months I kept noticing that things like very dry skin, falling hair, various dermotological conditions, extensive muscle aches and weaknesses, memory issues, etc., etc. were going away -- often things I had not associated with Lipitor. You can read more of my situation and extensive recovery on this Forum.

In my case, I was prescribed Lipitor at an age when all studies indicate little if any benefit as regards protection from early cardiovascular issues. Turns out the doctor is a true believer in the Cholesterol Hypothesis and in Lipitor's wonderfulness and harmlessness -- I fired him from my life immediately. His name is high on my personal list of Cholesterol Quacks, together with the names of every GP I have visited in recent decades and every cardiologist I have visited in recent years. I have become highly skeptical of all medical doctors and routinely have cross checks done, as well as educate myself extensively before agreeing to follow their recommendations. I have become my own medical coordinator. This site has been a wonderful place to start and an ongoing source of valuable informations.

I am now back to a person with few health issues, thanks to quitting Lipitor. Hopefully, Lipitor did little permanent damage to me, damage that may become serious in coming years. Only permanent damage I currently feel confident ascribing to Lipitor is extensive nerve damage to my right leg, which greatly reduces my balance and control of that leg.

As I found out later, I come from a line of folks that commonly have high cholesterol (by today's absurdly low standards for cholesterol and other lipid levels) , BUT, almost literally no cardiovascular problems. All available, non-invasive measurements of plaque in my major arteries (carotid and femoral) show no plaque. Cardio stress tests have never shown anything but normal heart performance, even at heart rates well above what is considered maximum for my age. I am now back to extended aerobic activities at high altitudes (9.000 to 13.000 feet) in my early 70s.

Not every one escapes long term effects of statins as fully as I appear to have. Hopefully, you also enjoy a major improvement from quitting Lipitor.

Best wishes for success!
Lars

[AceofSpd]

Jollygirl, check out this article by Stephanie. Stephanie is the latest contributor on Spacedoc but this article is in her professional writings.
http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/stat ... ilure.html
Read it, print it, and hand it to your doctor.
Pharmacist who's life was ruined by Lipitor

[Jollygirl]

Thanks for the link....

I've now been completely off Lipitor for several weeks.
I've also increased my supplements and started taking more omega 3 than I was, I also added 2000mg of vitamin C, Ubiquinol, and vitamin B12.
I have to say so far so good. I feel great!!!! Even my the side effects that could have been "hormones" have subsided.

Is it because I stopped taking lipitor?
Is it from the great supplements?
or both?

I haven't seen my doctor and have yet to test my cholesterol. I think I rather feel good everyday and have high cholesterol and feel like crap most days and have low cholesterol.

[AceofSpd]

Hopefully you now know enough to not even let your doctor test for cholesterol. It is totally inconsequential. Dr Douglas of the Douglas Report recommends a total cholesterol for women of 250 to 300. The latest Japanese study showed that high cholesterol was associated with decreased mortality. In other words, you will live longer with high cholesterol. At the least, you will live longer with high cholesterol than you will with artificially lowered cholesterol (my thought).

Pharmacist who's life was ruined by Lipitor

[lars999]

Jollygirl,

Since I last posted to this thread, I have become more aware of the role that a very special biochemical, Lp(a), appears to have played in my life. To learn more about this, see one of Dr. Graveline's recent newsletter about Lp(a). In short, folks with lower concentrations of this very essential biochemical have little or no cardiovascular disease and few if any heart attacks or strokes. Those having high concentrations of Lp(a) have these health issues in abundance, sometimes at a rather young age. Happily for me, I am among those with lower concentrations of Lp(a), which are inherited. This fits nicely with the hundreds of years of relatives that seldom, if ever, died of heart attacks (if you put enough faith in ascribed causes of death in 1800s, 1700s, 1600s). At least I and one living male cousin have total cholesterol in high 200s but no discernible cardiovascular or heart issues, even though both of us are 70-somethings. Blood concentrations of Lp(a) are considered to be inherited.

Lp(a) is essential for keeping us from dying because of leaky blood vessels, but, too much can lead to overdoing this leak-patching capability, resulting in formation of plaque.

Hang those drug company lackeys that prescribe Lipitor!!
Lars